Title: Be Ok

Description: Grady said it three times. It took him three times to really believe it. Nico/Grady

A/N: How is it that, even when the only reason I watch Sonny with a Chance is for Sonny/Chad cuteness, I end up writing slash? Slash that doesn't even involve either of them? Sometimes, I wonder how in the world my mind works. *sigh*

1.

The first time he said it, they were at the arcade.

The girls had abandoned them for a shopping spree, and they had been left to fend for themselves, which obviously meant that they needed to gather up all their money, pool it together, and use it to replay Monkey Exploders Two until they either ran out of dough or got kicked out for…well, being them. They had a knack for getting into trouble, after all.

"Oh yeah! Explode them monkeys, boy! They don't stand a chance," Nico cheered behind him, hand clapping down onto his shoulder.

Grady jammed his thumb into the launch button repeatedly, leaning in as the boss monkey approached, waving its pixelated hands wildly. Nico followed the motion, breath sucked in with anticipation, chest pressing slightly against Grady's back. It almost seemed like a position too intimate for friends but Grady and Nico, as the girls liked to joke, had absolutely no sense of personal boundaries. At the moment, however, Grady was highly aware of his personal boundaries and the fact that they had been completely bypassed. He could feel Nico's chest swell with breath against his back before releasing slowly.

"Aw, well, better luck next time," came Nico's voice. The other boy moved back, the hand on Grady's shoulder dropping to bury itself in its owner's pocket. The screen on the arcade machine flashed with a large GAME OVER, a monkey dancing back and forth triumphantly behind it. He must have completely zoned out.

"Yeah, next time," Grady chimed weakly, laughing.

Nico looked at him for a moment, seeming intent on saying something, but then sighed and let the words drop, readjusting his hat instead. Grady didn't press it.

"Ah, so, how much money do we have left?" he asked.

Nico shrugged and pulled out a few bills from his pocket. "Looks like four dollars." He thumbed through the bills and nodded. "Yeah, four. You want to go get some pizza on the corner?"

Grady grinned. "You know it."

Together, the grin contagiously hopping over to the sides of Nico's lips as well, they exclaimed, "Ultra cheesy pizza meal on the way!"

They laughed, and Nico's hand came down on his shoulder again, gripping it tightly. He'd never had drugs, but Grady was pretty sure that the feeling rushing through him was some kind of high.

The laughing slowly wound down, but the feeling far from disappeared. Nico rested his head against Grady's shoulder as their breath caught up with them. Grady's hand rested against the other boy's chest.

"Hey, Nico…?" he muttered, the high of laughter still whirling in his head. Nico didn't get the chance to reply.

"God. Fucking faggots."

They froze. The high subsided.

Nico was the first to break free, spinning in the direction the voice had come from. "You know what you?" he shouted. "You're—you're just a two toed, purple wearing lumberjack!" A few people glanced over at them in confusion, not familiar with the boys' particular brand of insults.

The incomprehensible name calling probably would have continued, but Grady carefully rested his hand against Nico's arm. He smiled, even though he knew it was shaky. "Forget it, man. It's not worth it. It'll…" he paused, and then reaffirmed his smile. "It'll be okay."

2.

The second time he said it, they were watching The Falls.

There had been a marathon on all day, and though they were supposed to be working on a science project, that had been quickly discarded. Sonny wasn't around to help them, anyway.

After at least two failed attempts at cooking, they had settled for their snack being slightly burnt popcorn and Oreos, then curled up on the couch. Nico sprawled across one end, Grady the other, so that while their heads were lying on opposite sides, their legs had become partially intertwined, sock clad feet fidgeting around one another during the tense scenes.

"Oh my god. He's not going to ask her out, is he?" Grady hissed, twisting the small pillow in his hands restlessly. "He's already dating the other girl!"

"No." Nico poked his calf with a big toe. "I've seen this one before. He just wants to get close to her so he can steal that ring she got a couple episodes back."

Grady glanced down at his friend, raising an eyebrow and gasping dramatically. "We weren't watching a couple episodes back!" he cried. "You lied! You have been watching the recent episodes, you traitorous scoundrel!" Normally, he probably would have jumped off the couch, just to add to the dramatic effect, but that would mean losing their current position. Instead, he settled for a particularly appalled look.

"Uh…" Nico rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, shrugging as best is possible when lying down. "Well, what can I say? The girls on it are hot."

Grady held out the look for minute longer, then sighed and let it fall. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

They turned back to the television, watching as Chad walked onto the scene and looked at the other two characters there suspiciously. For some reason, the other male character seemed to have the ability to pull fencing swords out of nowhere, and did so as he pulled the girl towards him. "Another step and I'll kill her!"

Chad and the girl had a simultaneous gasp, the camera zooming in on the hero's troubled features.

Grady bit down on his lip, plucking at the seams of his pillow absentmindedly. "Chad's not that bad looking either, actually," he muttered. Nico tensed, and he realized that the words had actually come out of his mouth. Without looking over, he flushed and rephrased. "I mean, it's just a great looking cast in general. Wouldn't be so popular otherwise, I guess."

"Right." Nico laughed, nervous jerks permeating the sound. "They have to have a good cast to be popular."

There was silence for a moment, and Grady shifted uncomfortably. The only sound was the slow, dramatic music playing from The Falls. Finally, Grady asked, "Have you…have you ever kissed a girl?"

"Kissed a girl?" Nico laughed again, confidently this time, back on familiar turf. "Dude. Grady. You know me. Unless we're counting my mom or one of my many aunts—or that one time with my freaky cousin—I haven't even touched a girl."

"Oh. Yeah. Right." At the risk of untangling their legs, Grady pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked down at his friend. "Do you, uh, wonder what it would be like, ever? To kiss someone?"

Nico hesitated for a moment then nodded, pushing himself up. "You wonder?" he asked.

"Yeah." Grady's voice was strangled, barely coming out a whisper.

Nico was leaning forward, hands placing themselves onto Grady's shoulders with a slight tremor. Their foreheads pressed against each other, and the taller boy questioned softly, "Want to?"

The word came out as even less than a whisper—just air on lips—but somehow Nico managed to understand it. He leaned forward, pressing their mouths together clumsily.

It was warm, and much nicer than Grady had expected. It wasn't fireworks, like everyone said, but it was nice. He reached out to wrap his arms around the other boy, only to jerk away a moment later, a panicky horror rising in his stomach like bile.

He stared, terror-struck, at their cast mates standing in the open doorway to the room, and imagined that Nico was doing much the same. Tawny had frozen halfway through putting on a new layer of Coco Moco Coco, and that couldn't be a good sign.

"Holy shit, guys!" Zora exclaimed, and Sonny quickly pulled her back, muttering something about watching her language as she ushered Tawny out with her other hand.

Grady turned to Nico, who seemed just barely able to hold on to a semblance of composure, and swallowed the sick feeling that was rising to the surface. "Hey," he said, voice shaky.

Nico nodded. "Hey."

They stared at each other, bodies trembling, and then Grady smiled. "Hey," he repeated, "It's…it's gonna be alright. It'll be ok."

3.

The third time he said it, they were sitting in front of the computer, waiting to video chat with his brother.

Nico's hand was wrapped tightly in his own, both their palms sticky with sweat. Despite this, he kept a tight hold, shivering as Nico's thumb ran across his skin reassuringly. "Don't worry. Your brother will be fine with us—with you. No one can hate you, man," he said, nudging Grady's leg playfully.

Grady shrugged. "Why not?"

He watched as Nico's expression bridged something along that of exasperation. "Do I seriously have to explain this to you? You're—I mean—you're awesome! That's all there is to it. I mean, in all our skits, you are what comes out of me, right?"

Grady scrunched up his face in disgust. "Yeah. And I know what you mean, but that's actually a little disgusting now."

Nico shrugged. "Maybe, but think about this: if I'm awesome, and you come out of me, then you automatically must be amazing."

"…still disgusting," Grady muttered.

The other boy squeezed his hand, readjusting the hold so that their fingers could lace together, and sighed. "Whatever. I thought you said you fixed things with your brother anyway, with that whole 'dating Sonny' fiasco?"

"I did. This is just…different." He glanced at the time in the bottom corner of the computer screen and let out a groan. "God, he'll be calling soon."

A pair of lips pressed themselves to his cheek, and he turned his face to grimace at Nico. "This isn't funny, you know."

"I know," Nico said. He was smiling anyway.

"He might try and disown me as a brother."

"I don't think he will."

"What if he tells mom and dad? Oh…"

Nico squeezed his hand again, and leaned over, resting his head on Grady's shoulder. "If he tells them," he murmured, "then it'll be one less group of people to come out to, alright? You just need to relax. Take a deep breath, Grady."

Grady nodded, closing his eyes and taking in the recommended deep breath. He let it out slowly, and then took in another before Nico's voice permeated his thoughts again. "Grady? The computer wants to know if you're going to accept your brother's call or not."

He slowly opened his eyes and took one more breath as he reached for the mouse. "It's going to be alright," he murmured to himself. "It'll be ok."

And as Nico pulled their hands apart, wrapping the now free arm around his waist instead and pulling him close, he really believed it.

Everything was going to be ok.